


Siren's Song

by Ribbonshalos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pirates, Pre-Relationship, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 01:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16734633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ribbonshalos/pseuds/Ribbonshalos
Summary: The sirens lies in wait, hoping to continue the decoration of their home with new trophies. Genji could even believe the rocks and terrible waters are their doing somehow. These creatures of the sea lurk close by.





	Siren's Song

Captain Reyes made it clear what was over the horizon, but nothing could brace them for the dark waters and jagged, rising rocks that threaten to puncture a hull in the rim. Carcasses of other, unfortunate ships remain against some of the rocks. A tattered, holey sail. A dark wood plank once curving along the surface of the water. **  
**

The sirens lies in wait, hoping to continue the decoration of their home with new trophies. Genji could even believe the rocks and terrible waters are their doing somehow. These creatures of the sea lurk close by.

A terrible, looming atmosphere takes away what was once laughter and calls. The cotton balls are quickly passed around from ship mate to ship mate. McCree hands him two cotton balls as Dr. Ziegler gives Oxton the same items.

“Never let this cotton out of your ears.” Reyes stands steady, even as the ship surges side to side. “You’ll end up enchanted and overboard within a second. The sirens’ song is deadly magic, don’t test yourself against it, or at least, don’t blame me when you get yourself drowned by their song.”

“Hey, Capt’n.” McCree has  his head tilted to the side, scowling at the cotton balls, “Couldn’t you have found something less itchy?”

Genji rolls a ball between his fingers. The unprocessed material is coarse and rough. Perhaps it’s texture will keep him focused along with the noise cancellation.

“Put those in and get to work,” he growls, earning a snicker from Oxton. Louder, he says, “We’re approaching the sirens.”

Everyone stills to stuff the white cotton into their ears. Genji pauses a moment, straying his gaze across the deck to Dr. Ziegler handing a few more cotton balls out. Her ponytail hangs high, swinging side to side from the ship’s motion. This is the first time she’s traveled with a ship and crew, but Reyes’s pay and conviction caused her to join aboard.

They spoke last night, before she retired and Genji took the night shift. He’s been seeking her company since he first laid eyes upon her on the deck. The stories he heard of the waters they’re traveling through now made her concern. The tales of sirens revealing part of your person, whether it being your weakness or greatest desire, leaves you with a knowledge no one else does. Only if you survive their song, of course.

She didn’t agree that knowing one’s weakness is perhaps one’s greatest strength. The thought of crossing willingly through danger still puts her at odds with Reyes. It cuts their journey down by a week, but it isn’t enough benefit for her.

His reassurance came easily, but she still remains wary of the sirens. On edge enough to demand that he promises to be safe.

He promised her, so long as she promised she would be too.

She turns, finding his stare with an uneasy brow. This water alone must make her writhe in worry. He gives an easy, hopefully reassuring, smile.

Lifting her chin, she turns her head as she points to each of her cotton stuffed ears. Genji hurries and places his own. The material scratches the insides of his ear. McCree’s complaining alines with his own now but Dr. Ziegler’s brow lifts just slightly at this.

“Be careful,” she mouths, now as the world becomes a muffled version of creaking boards and crashing waves.

“You as well, Dr. Ziegler,” he mouths back. She lets him return to his work at the ropes.

Overlooking the portside, the black waters swirl. The ship passes by a looming, broken rock wet from the ocean.

A muffled sound arises. Nothing distinct, but enough to know something different moves through the air. Curiosity alone would have Genji pull the cotton from his ears. The itching material is bad, but it does keep in mind the reason of their presence. Genji hates the off balance feeling of lacking a sense, but they all can work without it for the few hours it takes to get through here.

The ship moves through a tight spot, between two jagged rocks. Outside, waves launch the ship, sending it dipping side to side. McCree and Genji hold to the ropes, fighting against the sea spray and it’s own pull. Curses from McCree usually comes after events such as these, but the muffled world only stays with him.

The ship steadies for one moment. Oxton is keeping on the other side with another ship mate, but Genji doesn’t see Dr. Ziegler up on the quarterdeck with Captain Reyes.

His throat tightens. Leaning from the ropes for a moment, he swirvels his head across the deck until he comes to the forecastle. In the entrance to the living quarters, Dr. Ziegler stands, braced as the ocean holds no mercy.

A deep breath falls from his mouth as he turns back to the ropes. For a bewildering moment, Genji swears something glimmers in the dark ocean. A fish scale.

Then the fog appears.

It’s as if they slammed into a wall of gray clouds. The near white fog spills over the deck and air. They’re blind without their orders. It rests on the captain to lead them out of the muffled storm. Between the deaf ears, fog and siren song, they are disabled.

McCree jerks forward, opening his mouth to shout but the words are muted. Genji looks down the ship, finding McCree’s source of action.

A long, spirling rock lays directly in their path. A moment later, the ship groans as it’s jerked to the right. Reyes whirls the the brown wheel with all his strength, as if physically moving the entire ship himself.

The attempt to miss the rock almost jerks Genji overboard, but the ropes he’s tending to keep within his grip. McCree slams into the banister, but stays on the boat. Offering a hand, Genji gets him to his feet.

He shifts his gaze. In the middle of the deck, attempting to pick herself up off the deck, Dr. Ziegler stares at a cotton ball on the slick wood. Her gaze lifts slowly in silent panic, revealing a clear ear.

“Dr. Ziegler,” he cries out. The name echoes internally within him as his own cotton keeps him deaf.

The blue of her eyes suddenly shift. What was once panic melts into sheer disbelief and confoundment. Just as quickly, it slips into mesmerization. Her other hand lifts to her ear, and rips the other cotton ball from it. Entirely exposed to the siren song, Dr. Ziegler begins getting to her feet. Her gaze stays only on the foggy waters outside of the boat.

She steps towards the opposite side of the ship. Her walk is slow, staggered, as if drunk but her focus never falters from beyond the ship. The creatures’ music slowly pulls her along, enchanting falling overboard as if it’s a gift.

Genji darts across the deck without a second thought. The magic is taking her much too far. She’s nearing the side of the ship in a determined, unending direction. Slipping against the wet wood, and the foggy air, Genji runs.

Her hands touch onto the banister, ready to topple forward when Genji grabs her waist.

“Dr. Ziegler,” Genji cries out as he lifts her away from the edge. Turning her completely away, she stills, as if not understanding why she’s not in the water now. For one moment, he’s all too aware of her person against him, and her ponytail almost brushing against his face.

A mumble falls from her lips as she attempts to push his arms off her. He doesn’t hear, but tightens his grip. Losing her to those monsters’ song will not happen.

The captain’s quarters has a locking door. Holding as gently but firmly as possible to her waist, he begins to half drag, half carry Dr. Ziegler to the other end of the ship. Her hands pull and claw at his arms, desperate. Genji murmurs an apology as he continues to guide her away from the sea.

“Let me go!” her cry breaks though just as her elbow whips into his nose. A crunch echoes inside his head. Genji curses, stumbling back. The heels of her hands shove down his grip as Genji only sees white for a moment. Breaking free, Dr. Ziegler rushes back to the ship edge.

Fear strikes into his chest like a sword. The song is luring her back. Blinking rapidly as blood begins dripping down his face, Genji lanches forward.

“Angela!”

She only gets one leg over the railing before Genji captures her again. This time he pins her arms by her side, which she profusely begins struggling against. There is no chance of him letting go this time. Pleas fall from her mouth, desperate and near breaking with emotion, but Genji refuses to watch her fall into the ocean. He would never see her again in this black waters. The sirens wouldn’t give her back.

She fights like a sailor gone mad. He lifts her while pressed tightly against him as to minimize her struggle. His heart becomes clutched in a vice, hating the sound of her desperate voice through the muffled cotton, but refuses to let her go. The strain of her arms are testing. Her hair touches against his face again and again. Honeysuckle and iron fills his breaths for a few moment, hurrying his rush across the deck into the captain’s quarters. Reyes is shouting something, but Genji doesn’t linger to decipher the captain’s words.

He’s going to keep Dr. Ziegler safe. That is his only focus.

Easing open the door with his shoulder, he has only a moment to push her as softly as possible into the decorated room. Quickly, he shuts and locks the knob before she attempts to slide through.

His name begins falling from her lips, along with terrible things as she attempts to shove her shoulder into his side. Her strength doesn’t mirror his own, but her desperation is frightening.

“Angela, please,” he begs. Blood fills his mouth. His nose is dripping red but he doesn’t hold a concern about it. She’s going to hurt herself. He hates her bared teeth and the flighty, sharp movements of her eyes already seeing past the door and back to the raging waters.

Through the muffling cotton, she says his name. Either a plea or an insult, but she can’t stop fighting. Genji secures her wrists with an iron grip, before twisting her around as to force her arms to cross her chest. With his arms hugging her tightly against him, Genji sits down in the center of the captain’s quarters. He drags her down against him.

She only stays in his lap for a moment before she tries to kick out, but finds no purchase. If she lifts an inch too much, Genji tightens his grip to gently force her back down against him. Honeysuckle and iron still fill his nostrils.

She shouldn’t be close to him like this. This isn’t what he imagine happening when he held her.

But the fear of her jumping overboard keeps his grip strong. Dr. Ziegler has no sense. The sirens have taken it all, but he refuses to let her go. They’ll pass through these waters soon. She’ll get through it.

She’s strong. Her steady blue eyes have always kept calm in the worst of it all.

He trusts he’ll see that Dr. Ziegler again.

He does his best to keep his blood out of her hair, but she struggles endlessly. Admittedly, her elbow knock was well place. He has no doubt that his nose is broken. He stays with the taste of blood on his tongue, and Dr. Ziegler still fighting against his hold.

Time begins to blur. Faintly, even through the polish wood of the cabin, Genji can hear the muffled song of the sirens. He would love to give Dr. Ziegler cotton, but he’d have to fight for that. There is no focus besides keeping her safe.

Her struggle is almost endless, until nearly two hours past, and she starts losing energy. Her kicks and wiggles slowly die down. The heaving of her lungs press against his chest, causing his heart to flutter in nervousness. It’s a welcoming sign of them nearing the end of this. Even as his arms and hands cramp from keeping her still, he holds tightly.

When three hours pass, the outside world becomes quiet. The muffled song fades away like a bad dream. Slowly, Dr. Ziegler stops fighting him. Then all at once, her head falls back against his shoulder. The mane of her hair brushes against his blood stained throat.

“Angela?” he says, sounding slightly nasally. There’s no more question about his broken nose. The fear of letting her go almost locks his wrists into place. Carefully, however, he loosens his hold.

When she doesn’t move, and Genji can’t hear any muffled words, he slowly reaches up to free the cotton from his ears. They’re past the sea of sirens now, but Dr. Ziegler still slumps against him. Her cheek rests on his collarbone, facing away from his heart.

“Dr. Ziegler,” he leans over, trying to see her eyes. He can feel the rise and fall of her chest. Hesitating, his hands rest carefully along her waist, not wanting to touch outside of her boundaries but also needing to keep her upright.

“Dr. Ziegler, please say something.” The urge to move his hand and brush her bangs out of her eyes almost overcomes him. “I need to know you’re okay.”

A deep breath rattles her lungs. Slowly, she breathes out.

“I’m sorry, Genji,” she speaks so softly, he almost doesn’t catch her words.

“Don’t apologize,” he soothes gently. “It could have happen to anyone of us.”

Her jaw shifts, perhaps biting the inside of her cheek. His hands hover helplessly, but he doesn’t want to touch her again. She may never want him to touch her again.

“I could hear them so clearly.”

Genji stills at her cracked voice. The sirens alone couldn’t bring such emotion into her voice.

“Who?”

Another rattling breath takes her chest.

“My mother and father…” her eyes scrunch close, as if repelling recent memories far away. “They sounded so close. They asked me to swim out to them. They wanted me to come to them.”

Oh… oh no.

Genji struggles to find his tongue.

“It was just the sirens.” He tries to be gentle. “Only their magic. It wasn’t real.”

Her eyes don’t open. Her face still holds crumpled, reflecting the collapsing sensation inside.

“I haven’t heard their voices since I was a little girl. I…” her voice stops, breaking with emotion.

Her lungs still rattle against him, like a broken vase tossed into a rolling barrel. Shaking fingers slowly grasp at his arms. An anchor to what can only be a storm inside. Genji slowly shifts, once again wrapping his arms around her waist but not to keep her here. Not to keep her still and away from the siren’s song but to keep her whole.

Her fingers twist the cloth of his shirt, needing movement, reaction. Her breaths rattle and fall. Up and down like the waves. Slowly, he presses his cheek against her hair, mindful of the blood.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Ziegler.”

Warmth floods his cheek. Dr. Ziegler doesn’t shift under his touch.

“You called me Angela,” she says softly. “I heard you before… I want you to call me that.”

Genji pauses for only a moment.

“Okay, Angela.” It sounds right on his tongue.

“Genji,” she breathes once more, less shattered. “I just need a minute more, then I’ll clean up your face.”

The blood or crooked shape of his nose is the least of his worries. It’s stopped bleeding anyways. Genji shifts his hold to cover her better. Her hands slip over his hands, patting the sleeves once in confirmation. This comfort is alright with her. Staying in his lap is helping her.

“Take all the time you need, Angela. I’m with you.”


End file.
